Prokhorov chased two hares, stretching himself thin in recent months. He failed in his presidential bid against Vladimir Putin. His net worth took a reported $5 billion hit in 2011. His Brooklyn-bound team is floundering under the weight of its own ambitions, losing out on Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard and, for the fifth straight season, the playoffs. The Nets lived and faltered by yet another Russian proverb: “If you’re afraid of wolves, don’t go to the woods.” They now risk being devoured by the pack of superstars they hunted.

The oligarch is carrying a defeat streak into his next uphill battle, a fight for Deron Williams that might determine the fate of the Brooklyn Nets for the foreseeable future. His opponent in this war, Mark Cuban, might not wield the same powers of persuasion as Putin, but is increasingly recognized as the frontrunner to snatch Williams in free agency — “a threat,” as characterized by Nets coach Avery Johnson.